Article
Constant's Reader
In the interest of provoking some intra-publication antagonism—who doesn't want news organizations fighting one another?—I predict that The Stranger's book editor Paul Constant will buy an Apple iPad, whether he knows it yet or not, in order to read electronic books.
Constant extols the glory of a device he hasn't yet seen and which I have, nyah nyah, especially the potential for comics and graphic novels to be reproduced in glorious LCD backlit color.
Oh, but, boo hoo, Paul, he doesn't like him some digital rights management (DRM) that Apple will certainly allow (or require) publishers to use to lock content in an encrypted format preventing items sold to be read on an iPad to be read on other devices.
Constant points to a misinformed LA Times blog entry that makes it sound like it's news that Apple will use its Fairplay technology that locks down video, audiobooks, and other content--but no longer music--to restrict use of ebooks as well.
DRM is used by Amazon for Kindle content already, and Barnes & Noble, Sony, and other early ebook reader manufacturers lock down content as well. It's unfortunate, because as a best-selling author buddy of mine has said many times, anyone who can read can exactly duplicate the contents of a book, "e" or otherwise; with music or video, you have to crack the encryption to extract and duplicate the content.
As Cory Doctorow wrote yesterday, as part of his ongoing documentation of releasing a new book in print, limited edition, electronic, and audio formats, "Apple's longstanding love-affair with proprietary formats and lock-ins will very likely make the iPad every inch the roach motel that the Kindle is. Apple pitches this as a design decision, but it's also a powerful anticompetitive strategy that raises the cost of switching to a competitor's device."
Now, Apple had its music-selling hegemony disrupted when the biggest music labels used the removal of DRM as a way to allow market access to the iPod: the iPod can only play DRM files locked by Apple, but can play unprotected MP3, AAC, and other audio formats.
Labels gave Walmart, Microsoft, and Amazon the right to sell their catalog without protection, and that allowed labels to shove a knife into Apple's door and jimmy open pricing. Apple had wanted to set pricing at 99 cents for all songs, and $9.99 for most albums. The pricing is now in a wider range, some lower and some higher.
In this case, though, removing DRM doesn't give publishers a particular advantage. Macmillan's battle over what it would allow Amazon to charge for its books and what Macmillan would discount e-titles to Amazon for resale had everything to do with Macmillan's supply of unique items, and Apple's entry into the market. Books that can be interchanged among many different readers using a universal format just isn't a negotiating point.
So enjoy your weirdo Notion Ink Adam or Plastic Logic or whatever the hell, Paul, because you'll be Apple's bitch in the end if you want to have any content to read--or Amazon's or Barnes & Noble's or Sony's. I suspect you'll prefer the iPad. Save your pennies now. The iPad starts at $499.
Constant extols the glory of a device he hasn't yet seen and which I have, nyah nyah, especially the potential for comics and graphic novels to be reproduced in glorious LCD backlit color.
Oh, but, boo hoo, Paul, he doesn't like him some digital rights management (DRM) that Apple will certainly allow (or require) publishers to use to lock content in an encrypted format preventing items sold to be read on an iPad to be read on other devices.
Constant points to a misinformed LA Times blog entry that makes it sound like it's news that Apple will use its Fairplay technology that locks down video, audiobooks, and other content--but no longer music--to restrict use of ebooks as well.
DRM is used by Amazon for Kindle content already, and Barnes & Noble, Sony, and other early ebook reader manufacturers lock down content as well. It's unfortunate, because as a best-selling author buddy of mine has said many times, anyone who can read can exactly duplicate the contents of a book, "e" or otherwise; with music or video, you have to crack the encryption to extract and duplicate the content.
As Cory Doctorow wrote yesterday, as part of his ongoing documentation of releasing a new book in print, limited edition, electronic, and audio formats, "Apple's longstanding love-affair with proprietary formats and lock-ins will very likely make the iPad every inch the roach motel that the Kindle is. Apple pitches this as a design decision, but it's also a powerful anticompetitive strategy that raises the cost of switching to a competitor's device."
Now, Apple had its music-selling hegemony disrupted when the biggest music labels used the removal of DRM as a way to allow market access to the iPod: the iPod can only play DRM files locked by Apple, but can play unprotected MP3, AAC, and other audio formats.
Labels gave Walmart, Microsoft, and Amazon the right to sell their catalog without protection, and that allowed labels to shove a knife into Apple's door and jimmy open pricing. Apple had wanted to set pricing at 99 cents for all songs, and $9.99 for most albums. The pricing is now in a wider range, some lower and some higher.
In this case, though, removing DRM doesn't give publishers a particular advantage. Macmillan's battle over what it would allow Amazon to charge for its books and what Macmillan would discount e-titles to Amazon for resale had everything to do with Macmillan's supply of unique items, and Apple's entry into the market. Books that can be interchanged among many different readers using a universal format just isn't a negotiating point.
So enjoy your weirdo Notion Ink Adam or Plastic Logic or whatever the hell, Paul, because you'll be Apple's bitch in the end if you want to have any content to read--or Amazon's or Barnes & Noble's or Sony's. I suspect you'll prefer the iPad. Save your pennies now. The iPad starts at $499.
